When Microsoft announced that it was getting into the first-party hardware market with its own line of tablets, it left a lot of Microsoft partners in the PC industry unhappy. One of the most vocal was Acer, which was clearly unhappy with having to compete directly against Microsoft in the tablet market.

Chairman and chief executive of Acer, JT Wang, said in an interview not long after Surface was announced, "We have said [to Microsoft] think it over. Think twice. It will create a huge negative impact for the ecosystem and other brands may take a negative reaction. It is not something you are good at so please think twice."

While Acer is clearly unhappy with having to compete against the Surface RT tablet and other Microsoft tablets, other computer manufacturers don't seem to mind at all. Lenovo for instance hasn't had an issue at all in competing with Surface on the market today.

On the other hand, HP’s PC business chief Todd Bradley took a few shots at Surface in an interview with IDG Enterprise. "I'd hardly call Surface competition," said Bradley. "[It has] very limited distribution. It tends to be slow and a little kludgey as you use it .... It's expensive. Holistically, the press has made a bigger deal out of Surface than what the world has chosen to believe."

HP executive John Solomon took a more diplomatic approaching, stating, "I believe Microsoft was basically making a leadership statement and showing what's possible in the tablet space. Our relationship has not changed at all due to Microsoft's announcement. In fact, I applaud it -- I think it's great that they are getting out in front and [showing] what's possible."

Solomon added, “We will be very focused on the commercial tablet opportunity, which is completely under-penetrated. And, we have some unique intellectual property that we’re going to apply.”